


Claudia's 'Diagnostic Stare' and a School Tradition

by mandykaysfic



Series: 40 fandoms in 40 days 2018 [4]
Category: Merry - Clare Mallory
Genre: Alternate Universe - Secret Powers, Aura Reading, Boarding School, Gen, School traditions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 21:03:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14065533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandykaysfic/pseuds/mandykaysfic
Summary: Claudia's 'diagnosis stare' was famous among the Juniors  and Middles at Tremayne's. Just how it worked, she kept a secret. While a useful thing for a Head Girl, it came in especially handy for one School tradition.





	Claudia's 'Diagnostic Stare' and a School Tradition

**Author's Note:**

> Set at the beginning of 'Merry Marches On'.

It wasn't something she could discuss with anyone at school; neither her peers nor any of the staff would understand, so at fifteen, after a few puzzled looks from her closest friends when she tried to explain what she saw, Claudia learned to keep her new ability to herself.

As she progressed up the school, from the Fourth, to the Fifth, the Sixth and finally the Special Sixth, Claudia's ability to see glowing coloured lights around people grew and developed. The Juniors and Middles found her 'diagnosis stare' highly disconcerting, a term they coined when it was discovered Claudia was destined for the medical profession. She was intensely interested in people's mental makeup as well as the physical, and being able to read a person's aura provided her with an extraordinary insight how they were really feeling. 

It also turned out to be a particularly useful skill for the Head Girl of Tremayne's to possess. The aura of a naughty Junior would often contain spikes of bright orange. If she saw areas of brilliant red in a new girl, she carefully steered them to the tennis courts or hockey fields, or encouraged them to work hard at athletics; she'd never yet been wrong predicting Tremayne's newest sporting star.

Her fellow prefects also made interesting studies. Erica's predominantly magenta aura had days when it appeared to be held in by a band of light tan. Claudia kept careful notes of her observations and eventually linked the appearance of the tan band to the days on which Maths tests were held. The shade of magenta she associated with Erica manifested in girls one described as eccentric. Naturally, Games Captain Diana's aura glowed brilliant red and orange as had the three Games Captains before her, but the ever increasing amount of lavender in Anne's aura bothered Claudia. The House Captain of Lamorna was showing an increasing tendency to ignore the members of her House in favour of spending time at her piano, which did not bode well for Lamorna or Tremayne's. She contrasted Anne's aura with Georgie's. Georgie Somerset, Second Prefect and close friend along with Pauline Templeton and Diana Ballantyne, was as musically talented as Anne, but managed to achieve her Colours in hockey and tennis,in addition to studying for a scholarship and performing her duties as a Prefect to the highest standard. In Claudia's opinion, Georgie's aura was a beautiful mixture of yellow-green, light blue, and lavender-violet, spiked with red and yellow.

There was another whose aura worried Claudia. During the last term, her own House Captain's aura had begun to change. She searched for words to describe what was happening to the reds, pinks, blues and greens that previously indicated Chris Lindsay to be the most suitable prefect to succeed Claudia as Captain of Constantine. The once bright colours were now muddy and cloudy and she suddenly realised the darkening changes coincided with Pauline's unexpected success as Sennen's House Captain, and Sennen's rising position on the House ladder. Chris was ambitious and had obviously set her sights on becoming the next Head Girl of Tremayne's. Claudia resolved to keep an eye on Chris; it wouldn't do for her to sabotage Pauline's chances for next year. The Head of Tremayne's needed to put the good of the School ahead of her House and herself, and Claudia had no doubt Pauline would do so. She was after all, one of the 'real Tremayne's'. Chris, she knew, would give in to the tendency to put herself first.

However, Chris would have to work hard to achieve her objective. The Bups, six Third Formers and the backbone of Pauline's Middle School, would do their best to ensure Sennen ended up at the top of the House Ladder and secured Pauline's promotion. Claudia smiled as she pictured the six girls who'd formed the 'Back Up Pauline' society: Hildreth, the born leader, so like her sister Diana, sporty Esme, stalwart Jill, red-haired Corinna the poetess, mischievous Beth, and loyal little Merry. Her thoughts turned to Merry. She was someone else whose aura positively sparkled. Blues and violets, yellow and greens, silver and golds. 

It was the gold in Merry's aura that decided Claudia. There was a little known tradition at Tremayne's, shared only between the Head Girl and the Middle she believed most likely to become Head Girl. The _bene servavit_ , Mary Tremayne's gold bar brooch, lay in Claudia's handkerchief case. By the end of the term, she would have to decide which member of the Middle School was the right person to lead Tremayne's in the future. Of course, she would have to wait almost three months to see how the events of the term played out, but Claudia was certain Merry's aura was the perfect indicator that her decision would be the right one. Like Pauline, Merry was one of the 'real Tremayne's'.


End file.
